Diamond Ring Dilema - Opinions

[sb1970]

Hi Everyone

My mum bought a 1ct diamond ring from ebay, it came with an EGL card. I have recently become interested in diamonds and noticed a few things:

1. There is a box on ebay listings where you can put specifics and then the body of the auction containing detailed info, in the top box it stated I1-3 with a colour of F yet in the actual description it stated I2 with G-H colour.

2. The diamond looks like shattered glass visible to the nake eye and when she took it to a jeweller they could not do a valuation as they said the quality was so low they had nothing to compare it to but they did state it was a diamond.

3. The EGL card pictures a different ring than the one she was sent, the seller has also used the exact same card in another auction for a 1ct ring.

I emailed the seller on her behalf but I am not holding my breath that they will issue a refund.

Ebay listing is 5048233542 if anyone wants to check it out for me.

Much Appreciated - the newbie.

 

[Lorelei]

Hi and welcome

Oh dear, it is such a shame when these things happen, a little knowledge AFTER the event makes it all the more painful, however it can pay in the long run when you get educated and find a beautiful rock! I hope your Mother didn't pay too much for it. Bear in mind that most I2 diamonds will contain numerous inclusions visible to the naked eye and really are the bottom of the barrel for jewelry use, so it won't be the most attractive diamond anyway. These inclusions will also interfere with light return and brilliance, plus the all important cut quality is very much lacking probably

I have seen these " EGL " certs before, they are normally EGL Europe of some description and are like little cards which generalize the clarity and colour grades. EGL USA is quite a good outfit IMO with a proper traceable certificate, but I would be very careful with these EGL " certs" as you have discovered. I think your best bet is to ask for a refund and stand your ground if you have any difficulty ( which hopefully you won't ) until they would rather eat glass than continue to refuse you. You should have good grounds as the ring is obviously not the one requested. I don't know how Ebay works generally but the bottom line is your Mother isn't happy ( rightly so), the ring is not the one she wanted and they should refund your money. How long ago did she receive the ring? Act as quickly as you can, maybe someone else can chime in but stcik to your guns and good luck. Take it higher if you need to, I think Ebay has a complaints dept or similar. Let us know how you get on.

 

[sb1970]

Hi, thank you for your reply.

She paid $771 US from memory (about $1000 Australian).

I told her to give the seller 24 hours to respond and if he doesn''t we can lodge a paypal dispute as "not as represented" if it comes to it.

Unfortunately it was a little over 4 weeks ago she won it but only took it in recently. Paypal gives you 45 days to lodge a claim so we are within that time frame thankfully.

Could it even be an industrial grade diamond I am wondering if the jeweller couldn''t even value it?

I scanned a copy of her EGL card so I will have a good look at it.

 

[sb1970]

PS - Just checked and it is an EGL USA card.

 

[Lorelei]

I may be right in thinking many jewellers don''t like dealing with diamonds this included as there can be many inclusions that can threaten the diamond, eg, cracks and feathers that can cause chipping and breaking. This rock is so obviously an I2, I3 that the jeweller may have thought it unfair to take your money even to do an appraisal or valuation, also the work this could involve. It is a shame that so many diamonds like this end up in jewellery

Make as much " noise" as you need to regarding getting a refund and don''t be fobbed off. I really hope you are successful, let us know how you get on but act NOW! Good luck and we would love to help your Mother find a beautiful diamond when she receives her refund money!

 

[Lorelei]

I have seen those before, the usual industry standard EGL certificate is an actual cert with the measurements and clarity mapping, I don't trust these cards. I will try to post a sample EGL cert for you to see.

Here you go, check this out Here

 

[sb1970]

Thanks Lorelei, I will certainly do all I can!

I am now armed with a bit more knowledge, these boards are certainly filled with lots of helpful info.

 

[sb1970]

So with standard EGL cards do they not have each individual pic of the ring being valued or is it a standard pic put on these, also each report number should be unique for each item is that correct?

The same card was used with another of his auctions, shouldn't each card be different for each item valued by EGL.

 

[Lorelei]

I am not 100% sure but I think they can use any diamond for these cards, not necessarily the actual diamond, it may say sample diamond somewhere. As I said, I don't know if these gem cards are the standard EGL certs, sometimes if you read the small print they can say " this diamond was graded by graduate gemologists using EGL procedures" or something similar which means that they can say this, not that EGL per se has actually graded it. I don't know a lot about these cards, only from the odd ones I have seen but a genuine EGL cert like the one I linked should have a unique number which you can verify by going to their website, which relates ONLY to the diamond graded on the cert, the certificate should belong to one diamond only. Hope this helps.

 

[sb1970]

Lorelei the card mum got doesn't look like the pic you posted, it is a small credit card size with grading info and pic of a diamond ring. I'll have to inspect it more.

It says gem card, appraised value by _bs, can't make out the first letter.

 

[Lorelei]

I know, that is what a proper EGL cert should look like, I doubt these cards have much use at all, there seem to be a lot of them on Ebay which also makes me wonder. I don't know what the actual story is with them, unless it is as I said above that these are a generic card which can be used to say that a diamond was graded using EGL procedures.......doesn't mean a thing or that the grader is an actual EGL grader or even good at their job. Bear in mind too that I2 and I3 are the lowest clarity grades there are, so the worst, most included diamond will get an I3 at worst even if it is industrial grade and belongs on the end of a drill

For example you could have an I3 with some obvious, durability threatening inclusions, the " grader" in this case looks and says " yeah I3 clarity", he does the next one which is much worse and gives it the same grade because he can't go any lower! Inclusions are not created equal, some I3's may be splattered with carbon, others cracked and cloudy with feathers etc, therefore you can see the waste of time in having " one size fits all clarity grades" gem ID cards.

 

[sb1970]

I have emailed EGL USA with an attachment of the card seeking further clarification.

Shall see what they say.

 

[Lorelei]

OK, I would be interested to hear what they say too.

 

[AndyRosse]

Date: 12/19/2005 10:14:49 AM
Author: sb1970
Lorelei the card mum got doesn''t look like the pic you posted, it is a small credit card size with grading info and pic of a diamond ring. I''ll have to inspect it more.

It says gem card, appraised value by _bs, can''t make out the first letter.

UGS

Basically EGL just took the info provided by UGS and put it on the card. Also, note that the grading was done with the diamond in the setting, not loose, so everything is really an approximation.

Each stone should have a different report #. If you are seeing the same report # in more than one auction, the seller is probably just using the same pics for each auction. Another huge clue to say away from the seller.

I would definitely see if your mother could just get a refund and get the heck away from this seller.

 

[AndyRosse]

Go to this LINK and enter in the report # 77683307D and you will see what little info EGL USA has on the stone. The ebay listing provides a different report number than the one listed on the photograph of the card; that just confirms that the seller is using the same pics for all his auctions.

 

[blodthecat]

Hi there!

I am really sorry you have had a bad experience with Ebay. Firstly, can i just say that i use ebay quite frequently, and i have had a look at the item you bought.

It is typical of the ''quality'' you find on Ebay. The ID card should be unique to the diamond you are purchasing. I also noticed that the ID card showed a diamond in a 6-claw setting, but the main picture showed the diamond in a 4-prong setting??

There is a complaints procedure on ebay, but it isn''t that good.

However, there are a lot of people out there buying these low spec diamonds because they want the ''size''. They are quite happy to have a murky and included diamond, as long as it looks big!

The price is also a give away. You know the old saying "if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is"

HOWEVER....let me just say that I too made a similar mistake. I bought a diamond from a well known diamond retailer on ebay (cost $1500 plus inport duty into the UK). It was supposed to be VS clarity and I in colour. When it arrived, it looked like frozen spit. I eventually relisted it on ebay and it sold quite quickly. The buyer was absolutely delighted with it (because it was big) So don''t beat yourself up about this.....we all make mistakes from time to time.

If you are unable to get a refund, then my advice would be to list it back on ebay, and cut your losses. You''re much wiser now, and there''s lots of folk here on PS who are more than willing to help you with any future purchase.

Good luck with this, and let us know how you get on

Best wishes blod

 

[sb1970]

Date: 12/19/2005 11:25:55 AM
Author: Rascal49
Go to this LINK and enter in the report # 77683307D and you will see what little info EGL USA has on the stone. The ebay listing provides a different report number than the one listed on the photograph of the card; that just confirms that the seller is using the same pics for all his auctions.

Hi

Thanks for your reply.

Although in the listing the report number is as stated above, the actual card received was the one in the pic.

I wouldn''t mind emailing the other buyer and see if they got the same card as it was pictured on another auction too.

What I did notice was the pic of the card on the other auction is same report # but different specs eg size and EGL confirmed that each report # is unique so I don''t know how this seller has two cards same report # yet different info.

EGL confirmed it was an authentic EGL Appraisal card but said they would need to see the diamond to confirm if it actually belongs to that particular diamond.

Might be worth sending back into them even though it may be time consuming.

 

[sb1970]

Date: 12/19/2005 11:39:57 AM
Author: blodthecat
Hi there!

I am really sorry you have had a bad experience with Ebay. Firstly, can i just say that i use ebay quite frequently, and i have had a look at the item you bought.

It is typical of the 'quality' you find on Ebay. The ID card should be unique to the diamond you are purchasing. I also noticed that the ID card showed a diamond in a 6-claw setting, but the main picture showed the diamond in a 4-prong setting??

There is a complaints procedure on ebay, but it isn't that good.

However, there are a lot of people out there buying these low spec diamonds because they want the 'size'. They are quite happy to have a murky and included diamond, as long as it looks big!

The price is also a give away. You know the old saying 'if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is'

HOWEVER....let me just say that I too made a similar mistake. I bought a diamond from a well known diamond retailer on ebay (cost $1500 plus inport duty into the UK). It was supposed to be VS clarity and I in colour. When it arrived, it looked like frozen spit. I eventually relisted it on ebay and it sold quite quickly. The buyer was absolutely delighted with it (because it was big) So don't beat yourself up about this.....we all make mistakes from time to time.

If you are unable to get a refund, then my advice would be to list it back on ebay, and cut your losses. You're much wiser now, and there's lots of folk here on PS who are more than willing to help you with any future purchase.

Good luck with this, and let us know how you get on

Best wishes blod

I thought the same thing with the picture of the ring - 6 prong setting but actual ring only 4 prong, this is what EGL said:

"Each diamond is unique and has its own certificate or appraisal.The photo however, is just a representation of the style of ring and is not always a photo of your ring. The certificate in the picture is a real cert. I cannot tell you without seeing the ring if it is the cert of your stone."

Mum is worried about getting negative feedback about the ring if she resells as the jeweller here couldn't value it due to low quality, stated there was nothing to compare it to so I am assuming it is possibly worse than an I3 but it may be a last option
to resell it.

The seller has emailed back asking to call him!

 

[blodthecat]

Just have a look at the stone below. It is currently on auction on the Ebay UK site. Current price £145 ($200 approx) with still 13-hours left to go. Already there are 20 bidders for this item!!! Absolutely amazing! But people want the size 2.40ct.

If you don't get a refund for your ring. Then list it on ebay. Keep the description accurate and honest and state that it has obvious inclusions etc. If your description is honest and accurate, you don't need to worry about bad feedback.

I have no idea how light is supposed to penetrate this murky lumps of stone?

Good luck...Blod

 

[Lorelei]

I don't think that's a stone Bloddie, it's a hunk of ice they chipped out of a freezer and shoved into the setting and photographed real quick

I feel sorry for the poor lady who opens a little box and finds that Christmas Morning

 

[Fadedsenses]

Hi sb1970

I read your post and i feel sorry that your mom have to go thru this, she definitely deserves better!! Shame on the seller for misleading you

Well, i just wanna say that those gem id cards are what EGL would offer cos i went to a few B&M stores and the certs are mostly these gem id cards, Egl offers different types of certs from what i found out after much research, but bear in mind that it could be coming from EGL- USA or other parts of the world like Israel.
Btw i think EGL-USA is of a better standard comparing to the other EGLs.

Even Big stores like Gordon''s Jewelers carry EGL- USA diamonds with just the Gem id card with laser inscription to ensure that the ID card is for that particular stone, so you can be sure that there are such certs.. But if it is not laser inscripted then we will never know Whether or not its for the described diamond, like what the EGL-USA people said.
I have just purchased a pair of diamond studs online with spencers that are certified from EGL-USA but the certs are still on the way, i will post you once the certs are here.. so far the diamonds are as described and beautiful so i do not have any problems with them at all. But i shall see when the cert arrives.
As for your ebay Ring i suggest you do what blodthecat have mentioned... and get your ring here..

With Whiteflash/ Spencers &Spencers/ GOG and many more...
the people here are wonderful and will surely help you till the end!!